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66 Substance flow analysis of the recycling of small WEEE EITO published data on sales of desktop computers between 2003 and 2007 that were reproduced by IVF (2007). Like for mobile phones, the sales data for the previous years were assumed to be proportional to the sales of personal computers in the USA. Data on penetration rates of mobile phones and personal computers in the USA and in Germany are supplied by BITKOM (2007). In 2006, the penetration rates for personal computers amounted to 45% in Germany and 89% in the USA (related to the number of inhabitants, not to the number of households), whereas the penetration rates for mobile phones amount to 104% in Germany and to 76% in the USA. These numbers were multiplied by the population in both countries and divided by the total lifetime to estimate the theoretical waste generation (Table 13). Table 13 Generation of end-of-life mobile phones, desktop personal computers and CRT monitors in the USA and in Germany estimated with three different methods (in tonnes) Country Equipment group Total lifetime Simple delay Distribution delay Batch leaching Germany Mobile telephone 6 years 2 169 2 273 2 817 Desktop personal computer 9 years 43 827 39 957 50 097 USA Mobile telephone 6 years 16 197 14 916 7 532 Desktop personal computer 9 years 335 051 305 995 362 511 Table 13 shows that the ‘batch leaching’ method mostly leads to a higher estimate of the waste generation than the other two methods (except for mobile phones in the USA, maybe because of insufficient accuracy of the data used for the calculation). This is due to the market dynamics (Wen et al. 2009). If the stocks of EEE in households and businesses are increasing, i.e. if less WEEE is discarded than new EEE is bought, the current stock is not a reliable indicator of the waste generation. Other researchers mention that the ‘batch leaching’ method is not appropriate for dynamic markets (Table 6). The methods ‘simple delay’ and ‘distribution delay’ delivered comparable results (difference smaller than 10%). Insufficient sales data were available to apply the methods ‘simple delay’ and ‘distribution delay’ for the other equipment groups. The method ‘batch leaching’, in spite of its disadvantages (above all overestimation of the generation when the stock is increasing and underestimation when the stock is decreasing) and the high uncertainties, was used to estimate the generation for the other equipment groups. In total, the calculations using the ‘batch leaching’ method show that around 330 000 tonnes of sWEEE were generated in Germany in 2007, and around 2 700 000 tonnes in the USA. The detailed results and the assumptions are presented in Appendix 5.
4. Data inventory 67 The following adjustments of the estimates were made due to pragmatic considerations. For mobile phones and personal computers, the theoretical generation estimated with the method ‘distribution delay’ was assumed to be more accurate than the results of the ‘batch leaching’ method, and was considered for the SFA. Concerning CRT monitors, a technological change can currently be observed. Both businesses and households are replacing their old CRT computer monitors and TV sets by flat displays, so that the generation of end-of-life CRT monitors is very probably underestimated by the ‘batch leaching’ method. US EPA (2008) estimated with the method ‘distribution delay’ that in 2007, 1 125 000 metric tonnes of end-of-life CRT monitors were generated in the USA in 2007 (641 000 tonnes of CRT-TV sets and 484 000 tonnes of computer monitors). This quantity was assumed to be more realistic that the 484 721 tonnes estimated by the ‘batch leaching’ method, and was taken into account for the quantification of the flows. In Germany, CRT monitors are also currently replaced by flat displays, so that it was assumed that around twice as many CRT monitors are generated in the reality than estimated by the ‘batch leaching’ method, which leads to a theoretical generation of around 200 000 tonnes. The estimates of the generation are summarised in Table 14. Table 14 Estimated sWEEE generation for the different equipment groups in 2007 in tonnes – data considered for the SFA Group Estimation of sWEEE generation in tonnes In Germany In the USA Mobile telephone 2 273 14 916 Desktop personal computer 39 957 305 995 CRT monitor 200 000 1 125 000 Large high-grade equipment 87 071 409 309 Small high-grade equipment 2 550 21 186 Low-grade equipment 93 513 1 454 882 Total 425 364 3 331 288 The uncertainties of the estimations of the sWEEE generation depend on the quality of the data on lifetime distribution, average equipment weight, sales volumes and penetration rates. Quantifying the generation is difficult (Huisman et al. 2007; Widmer et al. 2005), so that the uncertainties of the results are assumed to be very high. The variation coefficient for the theoretical sWEEE generation was assumed to amount to 30%.
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ITU-Schriftenreihe, 2010 Institut f
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Bibliografische Information Der Deu
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Acknowledgements Here I would like
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Kurzfassung Die Nachfrage nach Edel
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Composition of the doctoral thesis
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4.1.1. Generation .................
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7. Recommendations 117 In many case
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7. Recommendations 119 manufacturer
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7. Recommendations 121 the manufact
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7. Recommendations 123 Reuter et al
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8. Conclusion 125 All the equipment
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References 127 Binder 2007 BITKOM 2
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References 129 CIWMB 2004b Clift &
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References 131 Greenpeace 2005 Gree
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References 133 Janz & Bilitewski 20
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References 135 Melissen 2006 Mesker
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References 137 Rhein et al. 2008 Rh
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References 139 StEP 2009 Stevels 20
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References 141 Veldhuizen & Sippel
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References 143 Legislative texts Ba
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Appendices 145 Appendix 1 Equipment
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Appendices 147 Appendix 2 Average c
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Appendices 149 Appendix 4 Past and
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Appendices 151 Eq. group Equipment
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Appendices 153 2 Assumptions based
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Appendices 159 Appendix 8 Flows of
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Appendices 161 Appendix 10 Flows of
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